Impeccable Knits

So much has been going on in the background — where to start!

First, and most importantly, a rejuvenation of all of the pattern lines that I design — all are coming together under the new Impeccable Knits label. The transition will take a few months, but the new website is up

www.impeccableknits.ca

and in time all of the patterns will receive a fresh face and be converted to the new look.

All patterns will still be available through Ravelry.com through the transition phase but you’ll slowly see more and more of them with the new logo and look. We hope you’ll love it as much as we do!

The new year will see quite a few new patterns out — I have been hard at work!!!! Lots and lots of cables!

Part of the amalgamation process is to combine all of my blogs into my Shifting Stitches blog - all of the special content from this blog will be moved over — please come and join us there. The Shifting Stitches blog has oodles of cabling resources, designer resources and of course the latest on all of the happenings in my studio space!

Happy 2012 Everyone!!!!

Emlyn - Size 2 shown

And here it is! A long journey for this little knitting pattern but I’m so happy that it is now available! Just in time for summer – what a lovely little dress this would make for a flower girl at a summer wedding — don’t you think? There’s a good mix of stockinette stitch and cables — enough to keep it interesting but not so overwhelming to make it a tiring knit.  As always, the stitch patterns for the cables are both charted and written out

The pattern is written for 6 sizes, 12-18mos through Size 6.

Here’s the Ravelry pattern page with all of those little details you love to know.

The sample was knit in Knit Picks Comfy Sport - a lovely Pima Cotton / acrylic blend yarn in the Flamingo colourway.

I had the pleasure of working with  Stephannie Tallent of Sunset Cat Designs as tech editor on this one.  And, as most regular readers know, I adore Annie Maloney’s stitch patterns — this time, The Cable Knitter’s Handbook was the source for that lovely lace-cable pattern.

Hope you enjoy this pattern!

Tamsen Blue Baby Blanket

Meet the newest baby blanket knitting pattern for Cranberry Ocean Knits: this is Tamsen Blue. It’s a square baby blanket (although it can easily be extended to make it rectangular) that has an easy-to-memorize oblique pattern stitch.

You can see all the details on the Ravelry pattern page.

Just thought I’d share a little bit about what’s currently in the pipeline. It all started with a fabulous stitch I found in one of Annie Maloney’s stitch dictionaries — the stitch I adapted for the skirt panels.

Then came the sketch.

I wanted a top-down raglan dress with the opening at the raglan seam and it definitely had to have cables!! So this is, oh, maybe version 3 of the sketch.  There are cables on each shoulder and the cable panels in the skirt provide the A-line shaping. Lots of little eyelet details, too.

Then came choosing the yarn and the swatching – creating samples of all the different pattern stitches in the design; washing and drying the swatches and measuring them for gauge.

Also, from the sketch I created a schematic — figuring out all of the measurements for each of the 6 sizes (the pattern will be in sizes 1 – 6).

Once the schematic was finished and the swatches were dry, I calculate, for the sample size (I use Excel) the number of stitches  I needed for each section of the dress  e.g. cast on, raglan shaping, bodice, skirt increases, hem – and how many rows were needed for the bodice, sleeves and skirt.

In my process, at this point I chart the cables and write the first draft of the pattern. I print this out with lots of white space and knit my sample from it. This allows me to create the sample and catch any major errors right away.  I update the pattern for accuracy and then I grade the pattern  (do all of the calculations for all of the different sizes) and add those to the pattern document. Once I’ve fine-tuned the formatting — making sure everything is consistent, grammar correct, no missing or extra punctuation, all titles in the same font, charts fit properly and are scaled properly, the legends and abbreviations are included………………then the pattern is ready to go to the tech editor.

So, this little dress pattern is at that stage–  about to be tech edited — so hopefully we’re looking at an end of June launch; just in time for summer.

Small Miracles Baby Blanket

Tina, on her Peacefully Knitting blog is having a give-away!! And, I’m even more excited than usual because this time it’s one of my knitting patterns

You can enter to win a copy of the Celtic Child Small Miracles Baby Blanket knitting pattern by leaving a comment on Tina’s blog between June 1 – 4, 2011 (entries close Sat. June 4 at 5:00pm Arizona Time). 

Good luck, everyone!!

 A new addition to the Celtic Child pattern line – a diamond-cable framed leaf and double-moss stitch baby blanket knit in organic cotton (Knit Picks Simply Cotton Organic Sport).

Hope you like it

Lots of info on the Ravelry pattern page.

Thought I would share some of the info I’ve gathered over the years with those of you who are, or would like to get into, designing knitwear for children.

So, I’ve added a new page to the blog listing some websites I’ve found useful when trying to size garments for children — hope they may be useful to some of you

This little blanket pattern has been out for a couple of weeks and the time just seems to fly by! But here it is…

The Easy Summer Rain Baby Blanket is a square blanket that is oh so easy to knit! All you need to know is how to knit and slip stitches – that’s it — really!!!

So easy, yet the resulting fabric is soft, cushy and looks fascinating.

The inner patterned panel is surrounded by a Garter stitch border.

The blue sample shown is knit in Bernat Baby Jacquards in the “Boo Berry” colourway; the yellow/pink sample in the “Berries ‘n Cream” colourway.  There are lots more pictures and information on the Ravelry pattern page.

The downloadable pdf pattern is only

$2.99 USD.

The great thing about baby blanket patterns, I find, is that they are so versatile — they make great lap-ghans, are usually a perfect size for that special kitty or puppy basket and doll cradle…

A little trick: for most baby blanket designs — and this is one of them — if you’d like a blanket larger than the pattern is written for, choose a heavier yarn (and larger needles) than the pattern calls for — instant up-sizing.

I’d recommend making a swatch using your heavier yarn and chosen needles for several reasons:

• to make sure that your needle size gives you the fabric feel you’re looking for (not too loose, not stiff as a board); it may take several tries to get just the right match
• be sure to wash your swatch the way you will the blanket — only then will you see the true blanket fabric
• to see how big the blanket will end up ( a little math involved here, but usually not too much!).

Happy knitting!

~~~~~ Just a reminder that all of the Cranberry Ocean Knits patterns on the COK website are now hosted at Ravelry.com. To save duplication, all of the website photos now link to their respective Ravelry pattern pages where you can find detailed descriptions of all the pattern details — yarn, needles, notions, methods, etc.

Exciting news! We’ve developed a little software tool to help designers, tech editors and knitting pattern writers.

knitXpress is a new software program that compacts row-by-row knitting instructions to their essential components and reformats the instructions, ready for publication. Come take a look – it’s our little fledgling.

Beta testing is on in our Ravelry user group — we’re hoping for a mid-April 2011 launch!

Heart of My Heart Socks

Here’s the newest addition to the Cranberry Ocean Knits flock – the Heart of My Heart child’s sock pattern. Read all about it on the Ravelry pattern page.

Thanks for looking

~~~~~~~~~

pdf pattern $1.99 USD